NDP Leader urges release of document on high-capacity wells

SUMMERSIDE – The leader of the Island New Democratic Party wants the minister of environment to release the details of a government document on high-capacity wells to the public.

Island NDP leader Mike Redmond.

Mike Redmond said Environment Minister Janice Sherry has an obligation to make the details of the document known to the Islanders.

“If you have a report it should be released in its entirety,” Redmond said. “When government starts to black out reports such as this one, it’s obviously very important. That’s where people get concerned. What are they trying to hide?”

Redmond is responding to an article from CBC which indicated that a document was received through an access to information request, however, the department of Environment withheld all comments, and draft policies on irrigation wells which the document says the government supports.

Much of the pertinent information was blacked out.

“We’ve not only had the black-out in this particular report but also we’re still waiting for what was the cause of the fish kills in Mill River in 2103, the two fish kills from last year,” he said. “We still don’t have that report which really raises a lot of suspicion and more questions than answers. Why are we not seeing that report?”

Redmond said this issue of groundwater is Island wide and there are concerns about the quality of the province’s water supply especially when the government refuses to release these reports.

“It’s time for Islanders to be outraged because the future of or water, the water that we drink, the water that we depend on, is becoming jeopardized,” he said. “Government is has not good stewards of the environment and it’s starting to rear its ugly head. When you have government not giving facts and figures to the public, that’s a real cause for concern.”

Redmond said Sherry has “an obligation, morally and ethically, to release all of the findings in that report.”